Texas Tech football alums: Former Red Raider Kerry Hyder signs with Cowboys

Monday, former Texas Tech defensive lineman Kerry Hyder signed a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys.

One of the most underrated players to suit up for the Texas Tech football program in the Air Raid era is on his way back to Texas.  Former Red Raider defensive lineman Kerry Hyder is now a member of the Dallas Cowboys after signing a one-year free agent contract on Monday.

Hyder has been with the Detroit Lions organization since 2015 after spending the 2014 season on the practice squad of the New York Jets.  In his career, he has registered nine sacks and 42 tackles in 24 games play.

Virtually all of his stats came in the 2016 season when he led the Lions with eight sacks to go along with 36 tackles.  But in the 2017 preseason, he tore his achilles tendon causing him to miss the entire season.  Last year, he returned to the field but recorded only one sack and six tackles in seven games.

Now, he will look to regain his 2016 form with a Dallas team that is looking for depth along the defensive line.  This offseason, the Cowboys saw talented defensive tackle David Irving retire from football after multiple suspensions for substance abuse.

And if fully healthy, Hyder could be an ideal fit in what Dallas defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli likes to do.  Hyder can play multiple positions along the defensive line including at defensive end where he could see some snaps when Dallas goes heavy to stop the run.

Texas Tech football fans got to see that versatility first-hand during Hyder’s collegiate career.  The native of Austin was originally recruited to be a defensive end after playing linebacker in high school but was forced to play multiple positions along the defensive line.

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A lack of depth on the interior of the defense line forced Hyder to play primarily at defensive tackle despite the fact that he was routinely giving up 40 pounds to opposing guards.  And despite playing out of position in college, he ended his time in Lubbock with 175 career tackles and 11.0 sacks.

As a junior, he earned All-Big 12 honors after recording 56 tackles and 5.5 sacks.  He followed that season up with 65 tackles and 2.0 sacks in his senior campaign, which was the first year of the Kliff Kingsbury era.

Hyder has defied the odds by carving out a nice NFL career for himself.  Despite being un-drafted in 2014, he signed as a free agent with the New York Jets and spent all of 2014 on the practice squad.  And after spending all but one game in 2015 on the Detroit practice squad, he  became the Lions’ best defensive lineman in 2016 after moving to defense end with All-Pro defensive end Ziggy Ansah suffering through nagging injuries all year and limiting his effectiveness and availability.

But unfortunately, his own injury has kept him from repeating that breakout season.  But with a fresh start in Dallas and what is hopefully a fully healed achilles, Hyder could prove to be a key piece of the Cowboys’ defensive front in 2019.